Water Outages Crippled Firefighting in Simon’s Town

Residents say prolonged water outages badly undermined efforts to contain recent fires in Simon’s Town. Some households reported having little or no water for several days, leaving residents and firefighters facing low pressure and dry taps as flames approached homes.

City officials blame ageing South African Navy infrastructure that still supplies parts of the area. A contractor reportedly damaged the Dido Valley pump line shortly before the fires, cutting supply until engineers managed to restore water to local reservoirs.